


I wear my heart upon my sleeve like a big deal

by radioactivesaltghoul



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Awkward Ben Solo, Book: Star Wars: Bloodline, F/M, Star Wars: Bloodline-compliant, Starstruck Korr Sella, let's make korrlo a thing, made-up Alderaanian holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 17:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15999944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radioactivesaltghoul/pseuds/radioactivesaltghoul
Summary: Korr Sella has the biggest, stupidest, most embarrassing crush on her boss’s son, who she’s never even properly met.What’s she going to do when Princess Leia’s family is in town for a holiday weekend?





	I wear my heart upon my sleeve like a big deal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HarpiaHarpyja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarpiaHarpyja/gifts).



> The working title for this was ‘make korrlo a thing.’ In the words of HarpiaHarpyja, “Moving for Ben/Korr to become the next in vogue rarepair.”
> 
> I headcanon pre-Bloodline Korr as being totally starstruck about everything regarding the Skywalker/Organa/Solo family. Post-Bloodline Korr...okay, yeah, she’s probably still a little starstruck, just in a different way.

It was stupid.

So, _so_ stupid.

Of all the stupid things.

Korr Sella had the biggest, stupidest, most embarrassing crush on her boss’s son.

 

* * *

 

But how could she not? His parents were heroes. He was off learning how to be a Jedi knight like his uncle. Like, how _badass_ was that? Not that she’d ever spoken to him personally, though. She’d only caught glimpses of him in holos and heard snippets of the occasional calls Leia took with the door to her office wide open as Korr sat at the desk right outside, organizing political documents.

And then there was Korr, who was sixteen years old and trying _so hard_ to be professional as she interned for Princess Leia and probably failing miserably because there were still so many things that Korr was learning how to do and even though she had only been working as a senatorial intern for one standard month, she still felt like she was never going to get the hang of it.

And okay, yeah, so what if she was sixteen and he was twenty-three? It’s not like anything was going to happen…

Right?

 

* * *

 

“Korrie, I’m going to be in and out over the next few days. My family is visiting.”

Korr felt her eyes widened as she took in Princess Leia’s words. “Your family?” she said, praying that she didn’t sound as starstruck as she felt. _You’d think that having parents who were involved in New Republic politics would make me immune to this,_ she thought.

Princess Leia nodded. “Han is flying in tonight, and my brother and son will be joining us to celebrate the Feast of Flowers.” She had a faraway look in her eyes when she added, “It’ll be the first time since Ben went away to study with Luke that we’ll all be together. They may not have the same attachment to Alderaanian traditions that I do, but they know how important it is to keep those traditions alive.” Korr wanted to protest— _I’m sure they feel attached to Alderaanian traditions_ —but she knew it wasn’t her place to say that sort of thing. And anyway, she was hoping that Leia would offer more details about their plans. Because if a certain tall, dark-haired, Force-sensitive son of hers just _happened_ to drop by the office while Korr was working… 

_Note to self: Ask L7-D9 to do my makeup tomorrow._

Leia blinked suddenly, as if remembering that she was in her office, talking to her sixteen-year-old intern about the son that said sixteen-year-old intern had a big, stupid crush on. “You know you’re invited to the Feast of Flowers celebration, don’t you, Korrie?” she said.

Korr felt her face heat up as her mind started going off in all sorts of directions, most of which were _entirely_ unprofessional. “I am?” she asked.

“Of course,” Leia said, offering her a smile. “You’re part of my staff here. Besides, the more, the merrier for the Feast of Flowers.”

She gulped. _Right. The more, the merrier._ “I’m honored,” she managed to say as she tried to rein in her thoughts. _Ben Solo is completely_ off-limits _. You idiot._ “Can’t wait.”

 

* * *

 

Korr had been completely wrong about the Feast of Flowers. 

Based on the way that Leia had spoken about it yesterday, she was expecting a somber gathering of Alderaanians who lived in and near Hosnian Prime. But the loud music, wild dancing, and copious amounts of booze threw all of those ideas completely out the window. _I think I’m too young to be here,_ she thought nervously as she made her way into the crowd.

“Okay,” she whispered to herself. “It’s fine. You can do this. Find Princess Leia, pay your respects, and go home.”

It didn’t take her long to find Leia. (It never did. People were always so drawn in to Leia that it was easy to find her in a room.) “Korrie,” Leia greeted her. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

Korr smiled shyly. “Thank you for the invitation.”

“Han, you remember Korrie Sella, don’t you?” the princess said to the man standing beside her. _Han Solo._ As if Korr wasn’t having enough trouble handling herself among all of these heroes.

“I think so, yeah,” Han said, giving her a small wave. “How ya been, kid?”

“I-I’m good,” she said, trying to fight the blush that was rising on her cheeks. “The party’s nice.”

Leia beamed. “Good,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. Please, eat! Get yourself a drink. I won’t tell your parents.” She winked.

Korr fought back a laugh. Like she was irresponsible enough to…

_Oh, kriff._

“Ben, have you met Korrie? I’ve worked with her father for years. She’s my new intern. Korrie, this is my son, Ben.” Leia didn’t seem to notice anything amiss with her intern as she nudged her son— _oh Force, he’s even hotter in person_ —who didn’t seem particularly interested in the party around him. Korr had heard that Jedi of the Old Republic were monks and warriors who eschewed a number of vices, but she couldn’t believe that someone who was the son of two such powerful, passionate people would be so uninterested in a party.

“Uh, hi,” he said, making eye contact only briefly before muttering something to Leia and slipping away.

Leia sighed. “I’m sorry about that, Korrie,” she said. “Ben’s not exactly a people person.”

Korr prayed that her facial expression wasn’t giving away any of the sudden panic she was feeling. It was a combination of _I can’t believe I just met Ben kriffing Solo_ and _I can’t believe that he barely even looked at me before running off._ Even though she knew there was no way that she, a little senatorial intern, would register on his radar, it still hurt to have that confirmed. “It’s okay,” she said.

Her boss gave her another smile. “Go enjoy yourself, Korrie,” she said. “It’s a party!”

 

* * *

 

Champagne was _awesome_ , Korr discovered not long after that.

 

* * *

 

Okay, so she really _had_ been planning to leave not long after she paid her respects to Princess Leia, but then she had a glass of champagne and started dancing and then it almost didn’t even matter that the object of her affection had totally snubbed her.

That was, until she decided to sneak off to one of the balconies to take a break and found Ben standing alone, looking out at the city around him.

_This is it,_ her tipsy brain told her. _This is your chance to actually talk to Ben Solo._ “Enjoying the view?” she said as she sauntered up next to him.

He looked so deep in thought that she was worried she’d startle him, but all he did was shrug. “It’s nice, I guess,” he mumbled.

“Have you ever been to Hosnian Prime before?”

“Once.”

“It’s my homeworld,” she said. “If you have time while you’re here, I could show you around. If you want.” _WHAT ARE YOU DOING_ , her inner monologue screamed at her.

The invitation seemed to finally catch his attention, though, so Korr was doing _something_ right. He turned and gave her a look that she didn’t know how to interpret. _Is he checking me out?!_

“Maybe,” he finally said. “I don’t know. It’s difficult to concentrate with all these people around.”

Right. Princess Leia had said that he wasn’t a “people person,” whatever that meant. “Do you want to leave the party?” she asked before she could stop herself. “I know a place near here that does good Jogan fruit cake. If you’re interested, that is.”

He looked like he was going to ask her something, but then he shrugged and said, “Yeah, okay. I could use something to eat.”

Korr didn’t comment on the fact that there was food at the party. Her inner monologue was too busy screaming _WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WHAT ARE YOU DOING_ at her. Instead, she smiled and said, “Follow me.”

 

* * *

 

She couldn’t tell if Ben was just shy or actually uninterested in her. But then again, he _did_ accept her invitation to ditch his mother’s party to hang out with her, so…

“What’s it like, training to be a Jedi?” she asked, trying to sound less flustered than she felt.

“Inevitable.”

“What does _that_ mean?”

He was silent for a moment. Korr wondered if she’d been too invasive. But then he said, “My uncle is the only living Jedi master in the galaxy, and I’ve known that I’m Force-sensitive my entire life. My parents are too busy to do anything other than send me off to train with him.”

Was she imagining it, or was there something bitter about the way he said it? “Your parents are war heroes,” she said. “Your uncle, too. Your entire family is, like, really doing something to change the course of the galaxy.”

“Right,” he said slowly. Korr thought he was going to elaborate, but then he cleared his throat and said, “You said something about Jogan fruit cake?”

Korr didn’t want to drop the subject— _His family is so_ amazing _!_ —but she knew a subject change when she heard one. “Yeah,” she said, grabbing his hand to lead him down a small alley branching off from the noisy street they were on. “It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the best places never do.” If she didn’t let go of his hand, it was definitely because she didn’t want to lose him in the crowd and _not_ because she wanted to hold his hand. Never mind the fact that the crowd had mostly disappeared since they’d turned down the alleyway.

He pulled his hand away as she led him into the dingy-looking cafe. She thought she saw an amused expression on his face, but he didn’t say anything about it. This was going better than Korr had thought it would. _Success._

“Korr Sella!” a booming voice called out from the counter as she walked in. “What are you doing down here this late? Do your parents know you’re here?”

She felt her face turn bright red. _Thanks for making me look like a little kid in front of Ben, Lyle Drayen._ “I’m showing a, uh, friend around town,” she said, feeling too embarrassed to look at Ben. _Was it okay that I called him a friend? Did I just friendzone myself? Does he mind?_

“A friend, eh?” The owner of the cafe was an old friend of her mother’s, and Korr was suddenly worried that Lyle was going to tattle on Korr to her mother about this. Either that, or Lyle was going to tell Ben some embarrassing story from Korr’s childhood. She didn’t know which was worse. “Well, any friend of Korr Sella’s is welcome here. Sit. I’ll bring you both a slice of cake. You have good timing; I just pulled a fresh one out of the oven.”

“Thanks, Lyle,” Korr said as she turned to head towards a booth in the back. (Not that a “booth in the back” was very far from the counter; the cafe was tiny.) She was so busy wrestling with her panicking inner monologue that she completely missed the amused look that Ben was giving her, almost like he knew exactly what was going through her head.

Korr started babbling nervously when Ben didn’t say anything. “My mom has known Lyle for ages. They went to school together. My mom actually took my dad here on their first date.” Korr didn’t realize what she’d implied until she saw the way Ben’s eyebrows shot up. “Not that this is a date!” she added in a rush. “I didn’t mean to imply—”

“Of course you didn’t,” he said, his face about as red as Korr’s felt.

“Sorry,” she said. “I know you’re way too cool for me.”

She meant it as a way to make it clear that she knew he was out of her league but if anything, the words just made him go even redder. Even though Korr was pretty sure she’d never felt so embarrassed in her life, she still caught herself thinking about how endearing it was that his ears were so red as well.

Almost as if he’d heard that thought, Ben started running his hands through his hair nervously, like he was trying to hide the tips of his ears without seeming like he was trying to do so. “It’s fine,” he said gruffly. “I’m sure you and your friends come here all the time.”

Korr was saved from having to continue the conversation by the arrival of the Jogan fruit cake. Lyle was not exactly subtle as they said, “I hope you and your _friend_ enjoy the cake, Korrie,” making no secret of how they interpreted the nature of the very-much-not-date that Korr was on with the guy she had a massive crush on.

 

* * *

 

Surprisingly, things got slightly less awkward after the “I didn’t mean to imply that this was a date” incident. Ben didn’t seem to want to talk about himself much, but that didn’t stop Korr from asking all sorts of questions about places he’d been and things he’d seen as they waved goodbye to Lyle and made their way back out onto the city streets. Korr had one last place she wanted to bring him: a small, mostly hidden public park that was her favorite place to go people watching, even this late at night. 

“It’s not all that exciting,” he said after Korr asked him what it was like growing up with a Wookiee as an “uncle.” “Chewy spends most of his time on Kashyyyk, anyway. I’ve only been there once, when I was a little kid.”

“Wow,” she couldn’t keep herself from whispering. _I can’t believe how cool he is._

Ben froze for a second before muttering, “I’m not that cool.”

Korr felt her eyes widen. Could he hear what she was thinking? Before she could properly consider all the implications of that, he added, “My life isn’t all that interesting. I don’t want to talk about it. Why did you decide to go into politics?”

“My dad’s a politician, so I grew up around politics. And I want to make the galaxy a better place. Not that I was alive during the Empire, but I learned all about it in school. If I can do anything to stop that from happening again…” She trailed off, and then added, “I’d give my life to keep evil from rising to power again,” before she lost the nerve to say something she’d never actually said aloud before.

Something about that statement, whether it was the tone of her voice or the actual words themselves, caused him to stop short. “You really mean it,” he said, sounding surprised.

“Of course I do,” she said. The way he’d stopped suddenly, she’d barely managed to stop herself from running into him, and now they were standing just a few inches apart. _Wow, I can’t believe how tall he is_ she thought as she stared up into his eyes. The park was such a romantic setting, and she’d just told him something so personal about herself, and…

Before she could lose her nerve, she reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

Korr had never kissed someone before, so she had no idea what to expect. But the way that Ben Solo went completely still for three seconds before gripping her shoulders and holding her back was probably not how it was supposed to work. “I can’t do this,” he said quickly. “I’m training to be a Jedi, and you’re my mom’s sixteen-year-old intern. Kriff, you’re _sixteen years old_. I...I have to go.” He all but sprinted out of there before Korr could even blink.

She didn’t know what she had been expecting out of this evening, but it was sure as hell not _this_. And yeah, it sucked that he had literally run away from her instead of continuing to have a romantic moment in the garden, but…

Korr held up her fingers to her lips and grinned. She’d kissed _Ben kriffing Solo._ And after all, he never said he _wasn’t_ interested.

She let out a loud laugh. He’d be back to Hosnian Prime eventually. And she’d make sure she was still working for Princess Leia, so she’d be easy to find when he did.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Korr’s mid-Bloodline inner monologue: _HOLY SHIT I KISSED DARTH VADER’S GRANDSON._
> 
> The Alderaanian Feast of Flowers is totally made-up. I couldn’t find anything on Alderaanian holidays on Wookieepedia, so I created a new one. Lyle Drayen is totally made-up as well. [Jogan fruit cake](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jogan_fruit_cake), on the other hand, is canon.
> 
> feel free to come yell at me about this or whatever on [tumblr](https://radioactivesaltghoul.tumblr.com/); I'm very happy to take constructive criticism!


End file.
